The San Diego Padres' ongoing quest for a World Series (or at least a playoff title). "You know that many runners enter a race, but only one of them wins the prize. So run to win! Athletes work hard to win a crown that cannot last, but we do it for a crown that will last forever." 1 Corinthians 9:24-25

Results tagged ‘ khalil greene ’

Uh oh. Here come more problems for the Padres fan. With the imminent sale of the Cubs, the trade talks for Jake Peavy are heating up again.

The talks during the fall were pretty stressing. First we negotiated with the Braves for a long time. It didn’t go through, though Atlanta was able to put together a fairly good package. Then we started talking with the Cubs. The talks intensified during the winter meetings to the point that it looked absolutely certain that he would be traded by the end of that week. But on the last day, the Cubs backed out.

Things were pretty quiet after that. The club said that they would no longer be shopping Jake, but they said that teams could approach them. So, I think Padres fans have kind of assumed that Jake will be the Opening Day starter. Well, at least I hoped that. But now, with less than three weeks until Spring Training, the talks are starting to pick up again.

Now, I believe we are over our $40 million budget right now. I mean, it’s not easy to built a team on that little. But if we trade Jake, we would shed $11 million. It almost looks like we have no choice but to get rid of him. But we really shouldn’t. Two words: the fans.

We’ve already lost two of our stars, our fan faves in Trevor Hoffman and Khalil Greene. Petco Park has these huge posters of our star players around the outside of the park. We’re already going to have to replace two of them.

We do not want to have replace three of them. I don’t know who they will replace them with though. We already have an Adrian Gonzalez one somewhere. I think they should put up a Kouz one, and maybe Chris Young. Anyways, as Jen would say, I digress.

Point is, as soon as the Cubs get officially sold, the talks with the Padres will probably pick up big-time. Sounds like the Cubs already have a lot of pieces lined up. This deal could very well get done in the next few weeks. Now that would be plain sad. We need our ace. We NEED him. It would not be fair to him or his family to move him right before Spring Training starts. I just want him to stay. I don’t care if he takes up a lot of our salary. He’s the guy now. The Padres’ biggest star, and the one who will draw the most fans. That’s bad for the front office, though, because Jake only pitches every five days. Oh well. The Padres need this guy, on the field, in the clubhouse, and in the community. We’ve lost a lot this offseason. Stop it, Padres. Keep Jake. Keep your fans coming to the stadium. If you trade Jake, you’re going to be hard-pressed to get a good crowd this year. For the sake of your fans and your players, don’t trade Jake.

Khalil Greene, shortstop, was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for two pitchers on Thursday, December 4, 2008.

Khalil, San Diego has loved having you here. You are a great player. You don’t get too emotional, but we love that about you. You’ve been with Padres for your entire baseball career, 6 years. The Padres drafted you in 2002. You came up all the way through the Padres system, making your major league debut in 2003. You were there when we won two straight pennants. You played in game 163, and you almost made it through 2008. 2007 was so exciting. You had a wonderful year, one that earned you the Padres’ MVP honor. But I don’t know what happened this year. You went into a huge slump, but know that we were rallying you all the way. After every homer that you hit, we always said, “Maybe this is the one that will break him out of the slump.” We wanted you to succeed so badly. The thing we’ve probably loved most about you is your defense. Some of your plays will go down in the Padres highlight reel forever. You are absolutely stellar over at shortstop. I love watching you play there. It was a joy to witness those incredible plays.

Khalil, thank you so much for your 6 years with the Padres. We’ve loved having you here. Though it is time for you to move on, I am glad that you had some great years here. I’ll be keeping track of you through the internet. And I’ll miss you a lot, Khalil. NO ONE can replace you. Have fun in St. Louis!

The Padres have made a move. It was reported on padres.com this morning that shortstop Khalil Greene has been traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for two relievers. I really hope they are very good relievers. If we can’t get Trevor locked up, we will need more solid guys in the back of the bullpen.

I am kind of sad about this trade. I’ve loved having Khalil here. Yeah, he’s quiet, unemotional and gloomy, but we love him here. He’s a stellar shortstop. Some of his plays will be forever lodged in the Padres highlights reel. Man, 2007 was his incredible year. He was so solid, and he was a key piece in getting us to game 163. This year he was horrible, no doubt about it. Nothing was clicking. But we got to see a lot more emotion from him than we ever had. I was so disappointed when he punched that storage bin. But it figures. It was right after his 100th strikeout of the season. I will miss him.

So now we are shortstop-less. We have Luis Rodriguez, but his first position is second base. Now that we are rid of Khalil’s $6.5 million, it might give us a chance to keep Jake. But then again, the Padres might want to get a shortstop in a Peavy deal. Maybe they will go back to the Braves. I am very excited about the other side of the deal, our two relievers. Like I said, if Trev goes and Heath Bell moves to the closing role, we will need more bullpen depth. I hope they are respectable major-league ready pitchers. I don’t want guys who I have never heard of. But hey, if they can pitch and help us, bring them on.

Yesterday we found out that Khalil Greene is on the trade block with Jake. It’s not that suprising. Khalil punched a storage chest after his 100th strikeout of the season and broke his hand. He was out for the rest of the season. The Padres filed a grievance against him for it. After an amazing year in 2007, he was slumping horribly at the plate. After every of his 10 homers, we always said, “Maybe this one will break him out of his slump!” We wanted him to suceed so badly. Relations between Khalil and the Padres have been a little conflicted lately.

But we Padres fans love him. He is a very good shortstop. His defense was average this year, but he is a stunning defensive player. Some of his plays will stick forever in Padres history. In 2007, his bat was so good. He was a big part of getting us to game 163. But this year, he just never got going. We love him because of his missing emotions. All through the year, whenever he struck out, he would just walk away with no expression whatsoever. Whenever he made a stunning play, he would just get up, brush himself off, and show nothing on his face. As the year went on, though, he would grimace at himself a little. But all the stored-up emotions eventually resulted in the punching incident.

And now he might be out the door. It would be tough for a lot of Padres fans. I mean, he has incredible talent. This year he could be really good again. He’s had a chance to sit back and take a good long break. Plus, we don’t have anyone to replace him. But the talk has been around that we could get a shortstop in a Peavy trade. But I mean, if we Padre fans lost both Jake and Greenie, I don’t know how many of us would stick around. It might be the last straw for some Padres fans. Plus, I know there are a lot of girls who love Khalil. Like, LOVE Khalil. They would be devistated. We would have to get something really good in return to appease Padres fans. But no one can replace Khalil. NO ONE.

So, I think it is very likely that he will be traded. But it will be a huge loss for Padres fans.

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